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AAUW celebrated a huge victory
last month when President Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
into law, bringing pay equity into the national spotlight again. You
can help keep pay equity on the front burner of national agenda by starting
now to plan activities for Equal Pay Day on
Tuesday, April 28 - if you've not already done so.
Equal Pay Day symbolizes how far
into the year a woman must work, on average, to earn as much as a man earned
the previous year. Because women earn less, on average, than men,
they must work longer for the same amount of pay.
Last month, AAUW kicked off our Keep the Change until Women Have Real
Change campaign in response to the latest salary data from the
Bureau of Labor Statistics, which show that the wage gap between men and
women narrowed by one cent. Women now earn 78 cents for every dollar earned
by men, up from 77 cents. This is the narrowest the wage gap has ever been,
but it's only an additional one cent on the dollar. One cent is chump
change. It isn't real change.
AAUW branches across the country
will engage in a variety of activities designed to promote pay equity on
Equal Pay Day. AAUW community leaders will also mobilize to educate
others about pay discrimination and to unite their communities in support
of the Paycheck Fairness
Act, which provides additional tools to deter wage
discrimination by closing loopholes in the Equal Pay Act. AAUW has been a
leader in moving the bill forward, and we continue to urge the Senate to
join the House and act swiftly on this bill.
Visit AAUW's Pay Equity webpage and
download the Pay Equity Resource Kit for
ideas, tips, and resources to use in your community on Equal Pay Day and
throughout the year. Examples for activities include a pay equity bake sale
or "unhappy hour," where women get a 22 percent discount while
men pay full price, and encouraging women to wear red to represent the way
the pay gap puts women "in the red." Order your free AAUW
"Keep the Change until Women Have Real Change" signs and stickers
to use at your events. You can also urge your senators to support the
Paycheck Fairness Act through AAUW's Two-Minute Activist.
With the exciting prospect of this bill moving forward in Congress, all
AAUW members should do their part to promote this legislation. Email AAUW's Public
Policy and Government Relations staff to let them know what you
plan to do for Equal Pay Day in your community, and spread the word and get
others involved by sending a Keep the Change e-card to
friends and family.
Lingering wage disparities are
disturbing more than 40 years after passage of the Equal Pay Act.
Minority women face an even larger wage gap. Pay disparities affect women
of all ages, races, and education levels-regardless of their family
decisions. The AAUW Educational Foundation's research report, Behind the Pay Gap, shows
that just one year out of college, women working full time earn only 80
percent of what their male counterparts earn, even when they work in the
same field. Ten years after graduation, the gap widens. AAUW
believes that pay equity is a simple matter of justice and continues to
support initiatives that seek to close the persistent and sizable wage gap
between men and women. Join in the fight by planning your Equal Pay Day activities now.
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